2012 Upper Murray Multisports Challenge Results - Its official - We have the records!

Its taken me a while, folks: The results of the Upper Murray Challenge are now out and its official: The Moller Brothers hold the event record and my brother, Gordon, the record for the run section of the race.  

Source: http://www.uppermurraychallenge.com.au/

Gordon Moller setting a course record
despite appalling conditions

Now, here's the facts:

• These records were set during the worst conditions of the 10 year history of the race.  The wet, cold conditions with mud and slush underfoot made for tough going.
• I can never recall a team of amateurs winning one of these races outright.  These races are always dominated by the young, hardened professionals who train and race full time.  My brother Gordon is an over-worked dentist, Bruce is a full time engineer.  All three of us are over 50 years old.  I am in my 60th year.
• In order of the relay: I finished fourth in the mountain bike, Bruce fourth in the paddle and Gordon ran a real burner to bring us home in first place.
• In this race, we got our noses in front of Australia's two best multisports athletes - Jarad Kohlar and Luke Haines.

How did three ageing amateurs manage to do it?  Well, I will not speak directly about Gordon and Bruce, but here is a clue: http://blog.garymoller.com/2011/07/more-about-reversing-cardiovascular.html

About this website 

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation. Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Moller Brothers dominate 2012 Upper Murray Multisports Race

Jarad Kohlar, winner of the individual race
and 2nd overall. He did it the hard way.
We shared the load - So good one
Jarad!
Photo: Tara Ashworth

Gordon Moller taking out the 2012 race in
 record time despite the horrific weather.
Way ahead with nobody else in sight.
Photo: Tara Ashworth

If you ever wanted proof that most of what we regard as being the inevitable consequences of getting old is simply not true, it is the performance of the Moller Brothers (Gordon, Bruce and Gary) in this year's Upper Murray Challenge (Snowy Mountains Australia).

We won the race outright, beating the two best individual Australian multisporters of recent years (Jarad Kohlar and Luke Haines) into 2nd and 3rd placings respectively.

In doing so, we set new course records in the Open Team and Veteran Team divisions and Gordon broke the run section record which was astonishing given the slippery and muddy conditions.  Gordon, was the only runner to break two hours for the grueling mountain run. He hammered that leg of the race finishing in record time way ahead of the next runner!

We were about an hour ahead of the next Veteran Team and about 40 minutes ahead of the first Open Team.

I finished the mountain bike section in 4th place overall, Bruce brought us up to 2nd place with an impressive paddling performance and then Gordon astonished every one by mowing down Jarad during the mountain run.  I think this is the first time that a team has won the event outright.  The pros, like Jarad and Luke have always dominated the race.  Until now, that is.

Lining up for a wet, cold start.

What the results don't tell you is this:  

A very wet, cold and muddy Moller!

We set these course records in the worst conditions of the ten year history of the event.  It rained all day, making the mountain bike and run a treacherously slippery slog and there was the possibility of the kayak section being cancelled for safety reasons.  Thankfully it was not.

When you look at the results below, you will note that Luke had a bad day.  It was tough out there and Luke looked hypothermic by the end of the paddle leg.  It is to his credit that he hung in there to the end to take 3rd place overall.  Jarad ran a phenomenal race when you consider the conditions.

Now, here's the interesting thing:

The best photo of Bruce - Sorry Bruce, we weren't
going to hang around in the rain just for you!

As we get older, we are getting faster

All three of us are over 50.  I am 59 next week.  My own aerobic performance has improved by about 20% over the last five years.  Despite the atrocious weather, Gordon and Bruce smashed their times as compared to last year, or the year before.  These should be declining.

A good athlete is a healthy person

From about age 28 there begins a gradual decline in aerobic power by the factor of 0.001 per year.  So, by age 50 the average person has about half the aerobic potential that they had in their 20's.  The faster this decline, the sooner we start falling to pieces and the sooner we die.  Sounds depressing eh?

The big question is this:

How much of this decline in performance is due to uncontrollable ageing 

and how much is due to controllable factors?

What the Moller Brothers are demonstrating is this:

Most of the decline that we attribute to uncontrollable ageing is, in fact, controllable

For more about this fascinating topic, please take a few minutes to read this article and the others that are linked to it.
http://blog.garymoller.com/2011/06/cardiovascular-disease-arteriosclerosis.html

Here are some screen shots from the Upper Murray Challenge results pages:

http://www.uppermurraychallenge.com.au/

Here are some of the race records as at 2011 (2012 yet to be
updated).  We did it in 5:32 this year.  Not too bad
when you consider the weather!

_______________________________________

About this website

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Why I am getting rather fed up with multisports races

Photo: Tara Ashworth

 Have a look at the two photos to the right.

Spot the difference

That's right: No winner's tape in the first photo!

Here's my earlier article about the Upper Murray race:

http://blog.garymoller.com/2012/10/moller-brothers-dominate-2012-upper.html

The first photo is of my brother, Gordon, winning the 2012 Upper Murray Multisports race outright, in the worst conditions ever and doing so in record time.  Breaking the vet teams record, the open teams record and the run section record.

The second photo is of super athlete, Jarad Kohlar, finishing in second place to win the individual mens.

Now Jarad ran an incredible race and I don't want to detract from his win, but the difference of the reception given to Jarad as compared to Gordon insulted me.

(This article is my opinion - not that of my two brothers).

Photo: Tara Ashworth

As Gordon came into view there was a bustle of excitement as someone cried out, "Here comes the first runner!"  The reporters grabbed their equipment and the time-keepers readied the tape.

Then the Race Director said, "No its not the winner, its only a team runner".  The reporters put their cameras away.

I yelled out, "No, its not just a runner, its my brother, Gordon, and he's in the lead".

One photographer, Tara Ashworth, (bless her) said something like, "I don't care who it is, I'm getting this" and positioned herself.

So, Gordon came in with just a few claps and congratulations, mostly from his team mates.  We hung around and waited for Jarad to come through and congratulated him shortly after.

Jarad got the works, cameras flashing and videos whirring, as well as the sponsors tape.  While he did the usual glad-handing and media interviews, we decided it was time to leave and go have a shower.

That was that.  Bit of an anti-climax if you ask me.

Here's the key points about our performance:

• We broke three records in the worst conditions in the ten year history of the competition.
• We beat the two pro athletes who have almost completely dominated the competition from its inception.  As far as I can tell, a team has never beaten the individual Pros - until now.
• We are three brothers, all over 50, who work full time and do this sport as a past time.

Read the news article and you will see a brief mention about us towards the end: http://www.bordermail.com.au/story/382456/gallery-mud-sweat-and-cheers/?cs=54

Have a look at the photos towards the end.  You will see one of Gordon as he crossed the line and then several of Jarad.  You can see where all the accolades were directed, can's you?

They got the story wrong.  The headline should have been this:

"Grandad Brothers beat the Pros and smash course records in appalling conditions"

I am not a publicity hound.  What I do expect is fair recognition of a creditable effort, especially after coming all the way from New Zealand to do their race.  

I did feel insulted at the end of the race by the way our performance was dismissed and I felt for Gordon as he flew across the line after hammering out a record run time in cold, muddy and slippery conditions.  He got nothing other than a few claps and possibly a hand shake, but I did not see one.  There was no schmoozing up to him, or any of us.  Not that we wanted any - just due credit for a good performance.

Just to be fair, the Race Director went some way to make up for things at the prize-giving, but the damage had already been done as far as I was concerned.

I wrote this article a few months ago:

http://blog.garymoller.com/2012/06/as-i-get-older-i-feel-more-and-more.html

It started with this quotation:

"...if you’re going to split the men and women into two separate pools for each grade, and then congratulate the winners, shouldn't you also be congratulating the winning women?"

Things do not change do they?

I think I'll do a different race next year.

Here's my earlier article about the Upper Murray race:

http://blog.garymoller.com/2012/10/moller-brothers-dominate-2012-upper.html

_______________________________________

About this website

The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Here's a multi sports race in Australia worth doing: Snowy Hydro Upper Murray Challenge

Image via Wikipedia

Khancoban-Corryong, Australia
Saturday, 2 October 2010

Don't put it off any longer, join with some friends, enter a team and experience the amazing camaraderie between all competitors and make Saturday 2nd October 2010 the date to experience the combination of a realistic challenge, great prizes, showbag, food and true country hospitality.

Visit www.uppermurraychallenge.com for all the details. With only 7 weeks to Saturday 2th October, entries are flooding in for 8th running of the classic Snowy Hydro Upper Murray Challenge, which is widely regarded as Australia’s most scenic and challenging one-day multisport course, from Khancoban to Corryong.

Upper Murray Challenge - Entries now open!

Gary: Here's an event worth doing.  We (Gordon, Bruce and I) did it last year and an intend doing it this year.  Great atmosphere, wonderful community support and a challenging course.

11 Chinook Cres

Mooroolbark 3138

May 2010

The organising committee for the 2010 Snowy Hydro Upper Murray Challenge invites you to the magnificent Upper Murray for this year’s event, to be held on Saturday the 2nd of October.